Each year a panel of professional judges appointed by the PEN America Foundation selects 12 emerging writers for the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers. Nominations for this Award are submitted by the editorial boards of the journals in which the authors published their debut short story. Stories must be published in the year they are considered and may only be nominated by the editors of the journal in which they were originally published.
Many of these writers since have published additional stories and several are in the process of publishing their first novels. The Foundation is thrilled to support these authors and encourages you to scroll below to see what they are doing now. If you are interested in purchasing the most recent Best Debut Short Stories click here.
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Year
2023
Name
Alfonseca
,
Dailihana
Title
Spanish Soap Operas Killed My Mother
Year
2023
Name
Feldman
,
Sonia
Title
Outgrowth
Year
2023
Name
Holgate
,
Stephenjohn
Title
Delroy and the Boys
Year
2023
Name
Holliday
,
Faire
Title
Standing Still
Year
2023
Name
Lin
,
Mengyin
Title
Magic or Something Less Assuring
Year
2023
Name
McKay
,
Verity
Title
Filth
Year
2023
Name
Mundy
,
Clara
Title
Schism in a Soul So Tender
Year
2023
Name
Saleska Lange
,
Jo
Title
Acts of Creation
Year
2023
Name
Ulaka
,
Annabelle
Title
My Grandmother's Feline Soul
Year
2023
Name
Wartenberg
,
Lisa
Title
What is Ours
Year
2022
Name
Baschir
,
RZ
Title
The Chicken
Year
2022
Name
Connal
,
Erin
Title
The Black Kite and the Wind
Year
2022
Name
Kirschenbaum
,
Patch
Title
For Future Reference: Notes on the 7-10 Split
Year
2022
Name
Majeed
,
Yasmin Adele
Title
A Wedding in Multan, 1978
Year
2022
Name
Muees
,
Oyedotun Damilola
Title
All We Have Left is Ourselves
Year
2022
Name
Shannon
,
Emma
Title
Beat by Beat
Year
2022
Name
Shook
,
Cal
Title
Man, Man, Et Cetera
Additional Info
Year
2022
Name
Vangani
,
Preeti
Title
Work Wives
Year
2021
Name
Aruffo
,
Heather
Title
Force, Mass, Acceleration
Year
2021
Name
Green
,
Isaac Hughes
Title
The First Time I Said It
Additional Info
Year
2021
Name
Haejung
,
Amy
Title
Maria
Year
2021
Name
Injam
,
Nishanth
Title
The Math Of Living
Year
2021
Name
Mathapelo
,
Mofoken
Title
The Strong-Strong Winds
Additional Info
Year
2021
Name
Mbabazi
,
Khaddafina
Title
Transit
Year
2021
Name
McGee
,
Mackenzie
Title
Re: Frankie
Year
2021
Name
Morgan
,
Alberto Reyes
Title
Salt
Year
2021
Name
Stocker
,
Stanley Patrick
Title
The List
Additional Info
Year
2021
Name
Toor
,
Pardeep
Title
Taxi
Year
2021
Name
Zhang
,
Qianze
Title
Mandy's Mary Sue
Year
2020
Name
Cooney
,
Ani Sison
Title
Evangelina Concepcion"
Additional Info
Year
2020
Name
Hegarty
,
Valerie
Title
Cats v. Cancer
Additional Info
Year
2020
Name
Lawrence
,
David Kelly
Title
The Other Child
Year
2020
Name
Manohar
,
Mohit
Title
Summertime
Year
2020
Name
Martinez
,
Damitri
Title
Bat Outta Hell
Year
2020
Name
Moon
,
Sena
Title
Dog Dreams
Year
2020
Name
Richards
,
Willa
Title
Failure to Thrive
Additional Info
Year
2020
Name
Sanders
,
Shannon
Title
The Good, Good Men
Additional Info
Year
2020
Name
Surya
,
Kristen Sahaana
Title
Gauri Kalyanam
Additional Info
Year
2020
Name
Tsumura
,
Kikuko
Title
The Water Tower and the Turtle
Year
2020
Name
Vegari
,
Matthew Jeffrey
Title
Don't Go to Strangers
Additional Info
Year
2019
Name
Beyer
,
Tamiko
Title
Last Days 1
Year
2019
Name
Curry
,
Sarah
Title
The Rickies
Year
2019
Name
Henderson
,
Doug
Title
The Manga Artist
Year
2019
Name
Ibegwam
,
Enyeribe
Title
Good Hope
Year
2019
Name
Infante
,
JP
Title
Without a Big One
Year
2019
Name
Jones
,
Jade
Title
Today, You're a Black Revolutionary
Additional Info
Year
2019
Name
Lan
,
Pingmei
Title
Cicadas and the Dead Chairman
Year
2019
Name
Manolakas
,
Marilyn
Title
Tornado Season
Year
2019
Name
Peterson
,
Kelsey
Title
The Unsent Letters of Blaise and Jacqueline Pascal
Additional Info
Year
2019
Name
Singer
,
Erin
Title
Bad Northern Women
Year
2019
Name
Young
,
A. B.
Title
Vain Beasts
Year
2018
Name
Agbo
,
Elinam
Title
1983
Additional Info
Year
2018
Name
Friedlander
,
Lauren
Title
Bellevonia Beautee
Additional Info
Year
2018
Name
Fries
,
Cristina
Title
New Years in La Calera
Year
2018
Name
McCutchen
,
Drew
Title
Zombie Horror
Year
2018
Name
Mohammed
,
Celeste
Title
Six Months
Year
2018
Name
Morley
,
Grayson
Title
Brent, Bandit King
Additional Info
Year
2018
Name
Streep
,
Maud
Title
The Crazies
Additional Info
Year
2018
Name
Terrell
,
Alex
Title
Black Dog
Additional Info
Year
2018
Name
Tomasula y Garcia
,
Ava
Title
Videoteca Fin Del Mundo
Year
2018
Name
Tucker
,
Megan
Title
Candidates
Additional Info
Year
2018
Name
Wang
,
Ernie
Title
Stay Brave, My Hercules
Additional Info
Year
2017
Name
Ajayi
,
Angela
Title
Galina
Additional Info
Year
2017
Name
Caron
,
Amber
Title
The Handler
Year
2017
Name
Chammah
,
Emily
Title
Tell Me, Please
Year
2017
Name
Chow Reeve
,
Laura
Title
1,000-Year-Old Ghosts
Additional Info
Year
2017
Name
Cole
,
Jim
Title
The Asphodel Meadow
Year
2017
Name
Kim
,
Crystal Hana
Title
Solee
Year
2017
Name
Magyarody
,
Katherine
Title
Goldhawk
Additional Info
Year
2017
Name
Oluseyi
,
Grace
Title
A Modern Marriage
Year
2017
Name
Sauber
,
Amy
Title
State Facts for the New Age
Additional Info
Year
2017
Name
Shattuck
,
Ben
Title
Edwin Chase of Nantucket